Matt Brabham and Carlisle Grab Victory at the Grand Prix of Long Beach

Long Beach, California (April 13, 2019) – 2018 Stadium SUPER Trucks Champion Matt Brabham would out duel Sheldon Creed in an incredible battle throughout Round 5 of the 2019 SST Championship to capture his third Grand Prix of Long Beach win in the three years.

The start of SST Grand Prix of Long Beach Race 1 would have excitement immediately as ninth starting Sheldon Creed of Alpine, California wasted absolutely no time getting to the front of the field in his Continental Tire No. 2 dive bombing the inside of the corners, and picking off truck after truck working his way to the lead by Lap-2.

However, his former teammate Matt Brabham of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia would have something to say about that stalking the Continental Tire tracks of Creed looking for the moment to capitalize on a mistake by the former 2-time SST Champion.

By Lap 4 Creed would work his way to a size able lead over Brabham for the top spot.

In SST racing a competition caution is displayed half way through the event to reset the field for the last half of the event. This would work in Brabham’s favor closing the gap that Creed has once built up giving him another shot at the victory.

Once the green flag waved Brabham knew he could not waste anytime to strike on the ultra fast truck of Creed. The two would cleanly swap paint with one another beating and banging for the top spot. This would go on for two laps much to the delight of the capacity crowd on hand pressed directly against the fence trying to get a glimpse of the traffic battle on the track.

As Brabham and Creed would put on a show for the top position Jeff Hoffman of Phoenix, Arizona driving the KMC Wheels truck would settle comfortably in the third position after Orange, California driver Robby Gordon driving the SPEED Energy/ Toyo Tires truck and Blade Hildebrand of Yucca Valley, California in the VP Racing Fuels and Lubricants truck would have a serious moment with one another on Lap 8 battling hard for the third position. As both trucks right front slammed the outside wall it would cause extensive damage to each truck breaking all the suspension and ending their day.

As the white flag would fly on the last circuit, Creed would have one more opportunity to muscle past Brabham for the lead, but he would come up just short in one of the most memorable SST battles in a long time.

Brabham would go on to capture his third Stadium SUPER Trucks victory at Long Beach, while Creed would be credited with the second position and Hoffman would round out the top three.

Mesa, Arizona driver Gavin Harlien sporting Magnaflow Performance Exhaust livery this weekend would encounter a mechanical issue in the staging lanes, and would have to switch trucks at the last minute.

Driving a truck that he was not familiar in race conditions would certainly be a challenge for last years Grand Prix of Long Beach Race 1 winner. Hanging back in the pack from his seventh starting position to get use the handling of the truck would allow all of the carnage to sort out in front of him. Being patient and allowing the positions to open up in front of him Harlien would finish in the fourth position at the checkered flag.

In his return to racing after a scary trophy truck accident at the Mint 400 at the beginning of March, Cole Potts of Scottsdale, Arizona would lag back in the pack at the start of the race from his fourth starting position to get comfortable back at race pace. Keeping with the lead pack the entire race Potts would feel right back at home in his No. 60 Security State Bank/ Innovative Computer Professionals truck to get scored with the fifth position.

Just two weeks after a wild roll over at the Texas Motor Speedway, United Fiber and Data/ LIVE driver Bill Hynes of Nazareth, Pennsylvania would be back in the saddle of his bright blue No. 57 ready to due battle. Making consistent laps the first four laps the brakes would begin to fade after the competition caution and Hynes would need to hang on the remainder of the race finishing in sixth position.

Zach Van Matre of Orange, California making his first Stadium SUPER Trucks race start at the Grand Prix of Long Beach would keep his truck in one piece learning more and more each lap from his second starting position avoiding making contact with any other trucks or the outside retaining wall. Gaining valuable experience learning the lines of the drivers in front of him the HD Supply driver would record a respectable seventh place finish in his first SST outing.

Making his return to Stadium SUPER Truck competition after a year hiatus EJ Chiba of Toyko, Japan driving the Nakata Coating/ FA Coat No. 9 would cautiously drop to the back of the field from his first starting position to gain valuable experience at race pace. Following the more experienced SST drivers Chiba would gain valuable SST experience on the tricky street circuit. At the finish of the nine-lap race Chiba would be credited with the eighth position.

As the contact with the outside wall on Lap 8 would collapse the right front on both the Gordon and Hildebrand trucks unable to continue Gordon would get credited with the ninth position, while Hildebrand the points leader entering the race would see his lead evaporate in an instant as he was scored in the tenth position.

The second and final round of the SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks at the 2018 Grand Prix of Long Beach will take place Sunday at 4:05 PM PT just after the completion of the ITT IndyCar Series event.

Influenced by the former Mickey Thompson Stadium Off-Road Racing Series, where drivers such as Gordon, Casey Mears and seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson got their start, Gordon created SST in response to the public’s overwhelming interest in trucks and off-road racing. His plan to re-launch the former stadium series has led to exciting racing on both asphalt and dirt, while producing one of the most extreme forms of action sports today.

Other than the trucks launching 20 feet in the air covering distances more than 150 feet, what sets the SST program apart from other series is the fact that all the SST trucks are identically prepared and delivered to drivers in race-ready condition. Race winners are decided by driver skill rather than individual team engineering and budgets. Drivers and their personal mechanics are assigned specific SST mechanics who together tune and make minor adjustments to the 600-horsepower trucks.